Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-09
"That was the worst Of II. There


stations, and there wasn't a great deal
of anything on board besides what the
passengers had in their lunch baskets.
One lady she had tin of condensed
milk and they mixed that up for the
babies-there was ten of 'em-and so
they got on pretty well. But there was
about five other children, not babies,
but quite little, and don't know what
they would have done il it hadn't been
for the young lady"
THE young LADY, said Miss Vaughn,
looking UP with some surprise, for with
the words curious tremble had come
into the engineers voice. and dark
flush into his bronzed face. What
young lady was thatP"
1t was moment or so before John
Scott answered the question.
IL don't know what she was called,
he said. slowly. IL never knew. She
was the only one on the train. so we
just called her the young lady. She
was travelling alone, but her folks had
asked the conductor to look after her.
She was going out to some relatives of
hers, her brother, 1 guess, who was
sick down TO Sacramento. That was
how she came to be there.
"Were the children under her carer"
mo, ma am she was all alone, as
told you; but she took them under her
care from the very first. They had
their fathers and mothers along-three
of them had, at least, and the other
two had their mother and nurse girl,
but somehow no one but the young lady
seemed to be able to do anything with
them. The poor little things were half
starved you see. and there wasn't any
thing to amuse EN- in the dark car,
and one of them, who was sickly, fret
ted all day, and most all night, and the
mother didn't seem to have no faculty
or no backb bone about her; but when
ever the young lady came round, that
sick young one and all the rest would
stop crying and seem just as clipper
as if II were Summertime outdoors and
the whole train full of candy.
IL don't see how she did it," he went
on. meditatively, thowing q shovelful
of co& in at the furnace door. "Some
women is made that way, l suppose
AS socn as we see how things were CO.
ing. and how bad they was likely to be,
that girl kind of set herself TO keep
along. She had a mighty gentle way
to keep along with her, too. You'd
never have guessed that she was so
! plucky. Plucky! BY George, l never
saw anything like her pluck. "
WAS she pretty ?" asked Miss
Vaughn, urged by truly feminine curl
osity.
We'll. l don't know if you'd "a
called her so or not. We don't think
much how she looked after the first
She was a slender-built girl. and her
face looked sort of kind and bright
both TO me. Her voice was as soft
well, as soft "a voice can be. and it
kind of sang when she felt happy. She
looked you straight in the eye when
she spoke. don't believe the wors,
man that ever lived could have told
that girl a lie if it had been to save his
life Her hair was brown. She wa:
different from girls in general, some
how"
Il thank we may say that she wa.
pretty" observed Miss Vaughn. with q
little smile.
IL amt so sure of that. There.
plenty of ladies come over the road
since that | suppose folks would say
was better looking than she was. Blu
never see any face quite like hers
1t was still, Ike lake, and you seem.
ed to feel as if there was depth to it.
And the further you went down, the
sweeter 1t got She never did any
rustling when she walked. She WASH
that kind.
Another pause, which Miss Vaughn
was careful not to break.
II don't know what them children
would a done without her." went OF
the engineer, as if talking to himself
Then, with sudden energy, II don
know what any Of rs would a done
without her. The only trouble wa.
that she couldn't be everywhere a
once. There was sick lady in tn,
drawing groom at the end OF one of tn,
Pullmans She had week lungs, anc
was going out to California for hei
health. Well the cold and the snow
brought on hemorrhage. That wal
the second day after we was blockaded
There wasn't no doctor on board, anc
her husband he was mighty scared
He come through to the front car tC
find the conductor, looking as pale q.
a ghost. My wifes a-dying,' said he
Amt there no medical man on tn,
train?' And when he said no, he jus
gave a groan. Then she must die.
he said. Great heavens! why did
bring her on this fatal journeyp"